A Secret Worth Sharing
by evelinaonline
Summary: Zane tends to let his night terrors disturb him even when he is awake. When he sees a very intense nightmare, he confesses how much he misses having Pixal beside him. The program inside his head is getting more and more concerned about Zane's mental state. (Spoilers for Seasons 7 and 8) [Pixane, Pixal x Zane]


"I do not recall any houses being in Birtchwood Forest." Pixal said. "Did you and your father live exposed to the snow? Perhaps you built something like an igloo?"

Zane liked how curious Pixal was. Whenever she asked any questions, she always added an assumption of hers before the other could reply. She could analyze everything about a subject in minutes and still be curious about it afterwards. Zane loved that about her.

"You'll see for youself soon enough." he responded to her question.

They kept walking in the snow until they met with a big tree. Well, another one of the many big trees around Birtchwood Forest. Next to it was a large broken robot, which appeared to be the Guardian of the area.

"I suppose this was meant to protect you and your father from the so-called treehorns?" Pixal assumed, earning a nod from Zane. "I wonder what kind of treehorn managed to take it down."

Zane chuckled, knowing that the answer was far from that. In truth, he was the one that took down the big guy. He hadn't known it was his father's creation back then. It was what was holding him back from entering his home. The symbol on the tree had piqued his interest and that was when he discovered that the tree in front of him was actually a house.

It was Pixal's turn to discover that as well. Zane pulled the door on the tree open, revealing the house which he grew up in. "Make yourself at home." he told Pixal, allowing her to enter the house first.

"We are inside a tree. Or rather, we entered one but ended up underground. Zane, your father was a genius!" she spoke in amazement as she walked down the wooden stairs attached to the wall.

Zane escorted her down to the ground. The android took a good look of the room, walking around in every little corner. Pixal was truly amazed by everything Dr Julien had created. She stumbled upon a paper of blueprints. She soon found out they were none other's but Zane's.

"Those are yours." she pointed out, taking a good look at them.

Zane chuckled. "I know." he said.

"They are so different from mine, yet…" Pixal placed them down on the table again. "It doesn't make me feel less compatible to you."

"I was thinking the exact same thing." Zane responded, stroking her hair. "You… Look beautiful today. N-Not that you don't look beautiful every day! It's just that now, you're…"

Pixal chuckled, pulling Zane into a hug. "You are going to cause me a system overheat, you know?"

"You think so?" he smirked. "Well, in that case-"

"Zane…" Pixal's tone suddenly changed. Zane could clearly hear the fright in her voice. "Who is that over there?"

The nindroid pulled away from the hug, turning to the direction Pixal was pointing towards. "Hello, Zane."

Zane felt his heart skip a beat. He gasped, taking a couple of slow steps back. "F-Father?" His gaze met with his now-old father, laying on his bed. But something was wrong.

His father didn't look like himself. His genuine smile was replaced by a mischievous smirk, his gaze was sharp and cold. Zane never thought he'd find a day he would consider something cold to be unsettling. "B-But you were gone!"

"And that is because you left me here to die." Dr Julien's voice echoed in the room.

"N-No, that's not…" Zane shook his head. "That's not true, I would never-"

"After everything I did for you," his father uncovered himself from his blankets and slowly stood up, approaching Zane. "and you abandon me."

"Zane, what is happening?" Pixal whispered, hiding behind Zane.

Zane grabbed his partner's hand protectively. "Don't worry Pixal. I'll protect you. This person… It isn't my father. It couldn't be."

"Oh, but it could." Dr Julien insisted. "How would you know, if you weren't here to see what happened after 'I passed'?"

Seeing how Zane's determination slowly was slowly decreasing, Pixal spoke up. "Zane, he is trying to mess with your head. Do not listen to him!"

"And who might you be?" Julien's attention turned to the android behind Zane. "Not that it matters. I don't remember inviting you to our 'family reunion' and I don't think I will wait here and watch you join it!"

The inventor pressed a button on his desk, causing Pixal to freeze. "Deleting all existing data." she spoke blankly. "Performing a system reboot."

"No!" Zane screamed. "What have you done?!"

"Isn't it obvious?" Julien asked. "Getting rid of the useless data!"

"I am Pixal." the female started talking again. "The Primary Interactive X-Ternal Assistant Lifeform. You are Zane, a droid like me. What does 'Zane' stand for?"

"No! Pixal!"

* * *

"Ah!" Zane opened his eyes and gasped, panting for air. He launched himself upward, sitting up. He felt as if his way of thinking had been blocked. By a system update, a virus, it didn't matter. Pictures from his nightmare flashed in his head. He remembered his father's cold gaze and voice, he remembered the hatred he showed towards him and he remembered how he easily got rid of Pixal.

'Pixal. Pixal, I have to find… I have to find Pixal!' he thought to himself.

He started looking around the room, trying to spot her, although he knew that Pixal didn't belong in the phsycial world anymore. But he had to make sure she was okay and his current state didn't allow him to think of a way to do so. Panic filled over his non-existing lugs, to a point he couldn't bear it anymore: He felt tears form at the corner of his eyes. He couldn't understand why.

In an attempt not to wake his brothers up, he laid back on his bed, curling up into a ball. However, as quiet as he were, he couldn't go unnoticed by the program inside his head.

"Zane?" she appeared on his monitor. She took a while to realise the kind of state Zane was in. "Your anxiety levels are high and your power source is consuming a lot of energy at once. What caused that?"

"Pixal?" Zane whispered her name. Seeing her somehow calmed him down. "You're… Okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" she questioned.

Zane tried to take a few deep breaths to relax. Pixal waited patiently for Zane to take his time. The last thing she wanted was to put more pressure on him.

"I had another one." Zane finally explained. "Another nightmare."

Pixal had always been fascinated by how dreams worked. She had never dreamed in her life and she couldn't understand why they had such a big impact on people. At the same time, she was terrified of how a peaceful dream could turn into a horrifying nightmare. To her understanding, nightmares were the shape and form of one's biggest fears. "I'm sorry, Zane, that must have been-"

"You were gone." Zane interrupted her. For a moment, he paused. "Not like when you were offline a few weeks ago or when you powered off once we turned off the power. You were gone, for real. And I was… Lost. Drowning. It was a feeling so intense that… I-I don't know." his voice broke while he spoke. "Somehow, whenever I feel pain, I feel more… Human. I don't know if that's a good thing or not."

The words that left Zane's mouth broke Pixal's heart. How could he say something like that? After all he had been through with her, his father and his friends, was a nighmare really all that made him feel human-like? She wouldn't allow his words to get to her.

"Don't forget about the other thing that makes you feel that way." she tried to remain calm. "From what I know, the feeling of love is what gets you to feel the most 'human'. I am certain of it because I feel it too."

"You're right…" Zane sniffed. "I just… I can't lose you again, Pixal. How many times has it happened already? I don't think I'd be able to bear it if you were gone for real."

"You are not losing me. I'm always with you, Zane." she reassured him. "We are compatible?"

The small smile on Pixal's lips only made Zane smile back at her. "We are, Pixal. We are."

"Come on now, you should rest." Pixal advised, still smiling. "It has been a rough day."

"You're probably right." Zane snuggled under his blankets.

"Goodnight, Zane." she wished him a good night's sleep.

"Pixal?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, Zane."

Pixal felt relieved once Zane finally closed his eyes. The day had been very stressful indeed. She wanted nothing more but the best for him. She knew how much those nightmares made him suffer. Zane had tried to explain them to her to the best of her ability. Luckily, she also knew how to make him feel better.

"Pixal?" Zane's voice echoed once again, after a few silent minutes.

"Yes?" she said much more sweetly this time. The way he called for her; The way he said her name, it warmed her heart.

"I… Wish I could hug you right now."

Never did it cross Pixal mind that her heart could sting more than it already had in one night. Up until that moment, she had never considered how important physical contact was to Zane. It didn't take long for her to realise how much she missed it herself.

As a hologram, she was unable to touch anything. That changed a few weeks ago, when she installed herself into the Samurai X's body. Zane didn't know about that, however. Was she selfish from keeping it a secret from him? She now knew how much something as simple as a hug meant to him - and how much it meant to her as well - and not giving it to him just felt… Wrong.

"Sorry, you're right." Zane tried to ignore her silence. "I should rest."

"Zane, wait, there's… There's something you need to know." Pixal stopped him from going back to sleep.

"What's wrong, Pixal?" Zane asked, clearly concerned. "I-Is everything okay? What is it?"

"I… should have been honest from the start about this. It was selfish of me to hide it, considering how much it could help to improve your mental state. I have decided that it is time I told you."

"What's wrong, Pixal?" he continued to whisper. "I'm here for you, okay? Just tell me if there's anything I can do to help."

"I am certain you remember what happened a few weeks ago. When I went offline?"

Zane flinched at the memory. "Y-Yes?"

"Well… It's not going to be a one time thing."

"Pixal, I-"

"You were built to protect those who can't protect themselves. I was built to assist. And back then, the most efficient way to protect my creator, Mr Borg, you, and the rest of the team wasn't through your head. I didn't go offline because of a virus. I willingly unistalled myself from your system. The only way to assist everyone more efficiently was by unistalling myself from your hardware and re-installing my data into… The Samurai X."

"Into the… Samurai X?" Zane had to take a moment to process all of the information he had just obtained. "Wait a minute, this could only mean that you're…"

"The identity of the new Samurai X is not a secret anymore. The clues were always there if you-"

"YOU'RE- WHAT?!" Zane yelled, launching himself upward once again and hitting his head on the top bed. "Ouch!"

"-looked hard enough…" Pixal finished her sentence, cringing at - what was going to be - Zane's new scratch on his titanium skin.

Of course, such action caused the other ninja to slowly wake up as well.

"Is it morning already?" Kai mumbled. The man yawned, not having any intension of getting up. He snuggled in his blankets even more.

"N-No, I'm-"

"It's four in the morning, Zane." Jay interrupted, rubbing his eye. "It's been a long day, go back to sleep."

"I'm sorry," Zane finally found his tongue. "I just-"

"What caused you to scream like that anyway?" Lloyd interrupted him.

"Yeah." Cole joined in the conversation. "We're already up anyway, let's at least hear the reason behind that."

"Speak for yourself." Kai mumbled. "I'm so tired I could-"

Suddenly, the door slammed open. "I heard screaming, is everyone okay!?" Nya yelled.

"We're all fine, Nini." Jay reassured her. "As to why exactly Zane screamed, we are still unsure."

For the first time that night, Kai jumped awake. "'Nini'? What kind of 'lovebirds nickname' is that?"

Nya shook her head an sat down on Jay's bed. "You'll understand the meaning of it once you actually get to talk with Skylor again." she talked back to her brother. "Now can someone please explain to me what happened?"

"Actually, we'd all like to know what happened." Lloyd said.

"As I was saying," Zane began once more, hoping that he would not be interrupted again. "Pixal told me she knows who the Samurai X is."

"What?!" Nya's eyes widened. "Who is it?!"

"Is it Ronin?"

"Skylor?"

"Karlof?"

"Neuro?"

"Oh, I know!" Jay joined in at the guessing. "It's the first Spinjitzu Master!"

"The first Spinjitzu Master?" Cole tilted his head. "Jay, this makes no sense whatsover. Why would you even-"

"It's Pixal."

"Pixal?!"

"What?!" Nya gasped. "It all makes sense! I can't believe I couldn't figure it out…"

Kai nodded. "I knew it all along."

"No you didn't!" Lloyd protested.

"Okay, maybe I didn't but you didn't either so what point are you trying to make here-"

"Guys!" Nya interrupted them. "You two are acting like kids again. Now, Zane, what else did Pixal tell you?" Nya asked, clearly intersted in the subject of the Samurai X.

Zane looked upward for a second, as if he was trying to concentrate on Pixal. "Yes, actually. She says that it's been a stressful day and that I should go to sleep." Zane smiled at his teammates.

"Oh come on! You can't just wake us up like that and then proceed to go to bed-" Cole stopped himself from continuing his sentence. "I can't believe he just covered himself up with his blankets."

"Pixal also says 'Goodnight, we'll talk about this tomorrow'!" the nindroid added.

"I never said any of these." Pixal chuckled from inside his head.

"I know." Zane whispered. "But now that I know that I can hug you, I can get a good night's sleep, as you wanted. We can further discuss about this-"

"Tomorrow, yes. This was a secret worth sharing, then." Pixal shook her head. "Goodnight, Zane."

"Goodnight, Pixal." Zane spoke back to her. He somehow ignored his friends' complaints and begs for more information, and closed his eyes. Only this time, there were no nightmares. Just Pixal's comforting voice, putting him to sleep.


End file.
